Tao Wong

Author SEO - All You Need

 For the vast, vast majority of authors, search engine optimisation (SEO) is not needed.

Want to know if you need it? 

Run a search in icognito for 'your name author' or 'novelist' or 'writer'. If your page shows up on page 1 (preferably spot 1, though goodreads, FB & am...

Quick Update

At a writing workshop as mentioned. Can't provide details just yet, but overall, happy and learning a lot.

I'm likely going to adjust my writing schedule (again!) but it's not in a bad way. I am still writing Stars Asunder which is on it's 2nd chapter right now. A bit slow since I've got al...

Paperbacks - All about It

Let's start talking about paperback sales.

I'm currently testing out a bunch of paperback sales on Ingram Sparks. Specifically, I'm creating / have created:

- 6 x 9" paperbacks

- 6 x 9" hardcovers

- 6 x 9" paperback large print (only for LitN right now)

These are all...

System Apocalypse Issue 4 Comic!

Guess what? Issue 4 of the Comic is out.

Here's the link to the MOBI (Kindle) file:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FsAPsuAuv_B7Y0W65TMeD4WWFY42PU3t/view?usp=sharing 2020-02-19 18:06:54 +0000 UTC View Post

Update - Change of Writing Plans

So. While First War gets updated; I meant to edit another piece of work.

I've decided against it. Way too much work. 

So, I'm probably going to just get started on Stars Asunder. I have little bits of Chapter 1 done; but amusingly, I'm having the post-book blues again. Even if I ...

Incomplete(ish) Story

So. Remember I said I had some shorts, etc. Still waiting to get some of them sorted, but this is the novel that I wrote a while ago. It's basically a fan fiction based in the World of Darkness system that I wrote... 20 years ago.

I tried ripping it apart, removing all the IP stuff. Got abo...

Picking Suppliers

This post coming to you after dealing with another bunch of rubbish in my (finally) fully closed business.

I've been picking and working with suppliers / contractors / employees for a long time. There are signs that people will not work, and if you ignore them, there is a lot of issues that...

Are you ready for a sneak peek?

Drumrolls please; look at this fantastic cover of Book 9 in the System Apocalypse series! Isn't it gorgeous?

What are you most looking forward to in book 9? 

Publishing Goals- deciding what you want

So goals.

I'm not talking about money goals though that can be part of this. I'm talking about  the goals that you have as a writer and as an individual. If you're going to be writing, you have to decide why you are doing it and why you are publishing. That's two different things.

Writing in a Series - Numbers

So, I realised my earlier post about breakeven analysis & timelines for e...

Format Unit & Revenue Percentage Charts

Alright, let's start out with three big charts.

2020-01-29 21:00:22 +0000 UTC View Post

Quick Updates

Hi all!

The System Apocalypse Short Story Anthology Volume 1 has released. 

I've messaged everyone I believe who should...

The Unspoken Requirement

One of the greatest unspoken requirement of having a career as an in the author is probably the biggest, most important requirement as well.

Being able to write an interesting and compelling book.

Craft matters.

All too often we talk about things like marketing,...

Updates on Writing

Currently at 75k words on First War. I'm at the final scene(s)? so a couple more chapters before the big conflict is resolved. I expect a couple of scenes after that... so this book might be a little shorter than normal at around 85k.

There's a reason why I swear, I can't tell how long my b...

Pricing - a business perspective

I very regularly hear a lot of people discuss pricing of ebooks. Now, I'm going to ignore KU in this stage and discuss pricing from the basic business perspective.  Generally, the complaint is when books are too expensive for how many pages there are / books are too expensive.

One of t...

Writing Process (Craft)

Someone asked me to write about my writing process. I pointed out that everyone has their own way of getting words down, so my process is probably of no use. But, since they insisted... here we go.

I've gone through three stages of writing thus far - hobby, part-time and professional. I'll ...

Business & Publishing Resources

Figured I should start creating this. Splitting this into a few areas. One is generic business advice, the other is more publishing.

Before you read this though, realise that I have a general business degree and a marketing degree. I also ran a business for 12 years. 

I have read...

Business Expenses 2019

Spent most of yesterday getting my statements sorted out. I ended up deciding to create a pretty little pie chart of my business expenses. 

Sadly, I wasn't smart enough to break up my revenue by revenue sources, so it's impossible for me (without redoing the entire sheet) to work out m...

Hi Everybody New!

Glad to have you all on-board.

Posts should be coming. One advantage of the new dictating / writing method is I'm actually editing as I go along, so you're getting close to 'final' product. Outside of potential areas for foreshadowing that I might miss, this is close to what you'll expect t...

Quick Update

Hi guys;

So. I've decided to make some minor amendments. 

1) Discord now has a direct link. So depending on where you support, you get to link yourself up with shiny new colours on Discord.

2) The $1 tier has been edited slightly to remove business postings for future posts...

Missed update - sorry!

Hello Everyone,

I'm sorry for the late chapter - it was supposed to be updated on Tuesday and I thought I had it scheduled but didn't. One more chapter is available now for everyone and the next update will be tomorrow as it's supposed to be.

Thank you for your understanding and sorry...

Publishing in Series

This is something I came across from another writer - Patty Jansen in her Indie Writer Unboxed Series that I thought was very smart. It's something I intend to make use of in future planning for series writing.

The idea is real...

Short Stories

So. I found a treasure trove of stories I wrote when I was... 18-21 or so. A large portion of them are stuff I wrote while playing World of Darkness, but some are just stories.

I'm debating how I should release them to you guys. Once a week? Once a month? Just give you guys a link and let y...

Audiobook Code Giveaways

I'm about to do giant giveaways again on my Audible codes, but figured I should offer it to my patron's first. These are all AUDIBLE only codes, since I have very few Thousand Li codes. 

I have codes for:

Adventures on Brad books 5 & 6

A Squire's Wish (Hidden Wishes boo...

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Hope you all had a great time. 

A Year in Review (2019) and Future Plans

2019 is my first year as a full-time author, so I thought it'd be fun to do a year in review.

Let's start with the simplest - what we released last year!

E-Books Released

Jan 1 - World U...

*Sobs in Corner*

So.... I had an amazing day. I did over 5k+ words. Possibly up to 6k+ on First War.

Then.... today I open up the file and it has none of it.

It's all gone. Somehow, Drive overwrote the proper file and replaced it with a bad file. 

And didn't backup the correct file either s...

System Apocalypse Comics Issue 3

No preview pages 'cause the illustrator just dropped all the pages on me at one time.

So, here's the PDF!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fP_aJdiGPTSOj-8UCaWX6vUa4lN...

World Unbound is out on Audiobook!

WOOT!

After muchos waiting, World Unbound is finally out!

Everyone who should get an audiobook code I believe has gotten one. If you don't have it, let me know!

Book 7 is meant to record this month but Nick's delayed so I think it's next month. Still, that'll come out fast.

Cover reveal: The First War

Yes, that's a sneak peek for you before the rest of the world sees it. Shhhh! ;)

In other news, Master class and above will reach the end of A Jinn's Wish this week. The next book you'll get to read here will be A Thousand Li: The First War, with two new chapters per week.

Look forwar...